Chapter 28: Fate Comes Calling
Ace sat on a rocking chair in front of a store. Pops had asked him to come to Banaro Island with Izo and the second division to check in on the citizens. The old west type town, which Ace had learned was called Tombstone, was a quaint little town. It kind of reminded Ace of Foosha. He smiled friendly as a man with cowboy boots and hat walked up to him. The man wore a badge with the word mayor on it. "Sorry it's taken me so long to come see you, Mr. Second Commander."
Ace gave him a deadpanned look. "It's Ace."
"What is?" The mayor asked.
"My name." Ace answered. "Portgas D. Ace." Izo chuckled behind a paper fan in his hands.
"Oh!" The mayor said with a bit of shock. "Are you sure?" He questioned gaining an annoyed look from Ace.
"Positive." The annoyed look deepened on Ace's face.
"Oh, okay." The mayor looked nervous now. "I'm sorry."
Ace took a deep breath to calm himself down. "It's okay." He waved it off. "Pops said that you were having problems here." He looked around the calm town. "But it looks quiet right now."
Izo looked around and noticed that the town seemed deserted. Oh no. He thought as every instinct kicked in. "It's a trap!" He yelled out as Marines suddenly started coming out of the buildings. Mad Dog Akainu standing amongst them looking proud at capturing them.
He dopped a bag of money into the mayors hands. "The World Government thanks you." He said as he turned towards the two pirates.
Ace felt his heart hammering in his chest. This is it. He thought. This is how the end comes for me. He growled causing Izo to look at him.
"Finally, the son of Gold Roger is in our hands." The admiral spat. "You worthless worm thought you could actually live when that monster existed. Did you really think your allies wouldn't give you up once they knew whose blood ran through your veins?"
"It doesn't matter whose blood is in him!" Izo yelled at the admiral. "He is the son of Whitebeard! You do this and Pops will have your head for it!"
Suddenly the man lifted his hand, it turned to magma as he activated the Magu Magu no me fruit. "Do you think I care what a bastard such as your Pops thinks?" He stated before thrusting his hand forward.
Ace's widened. "No!" He screamed infighting his flames, but instead of the flames being red like normal Ace used his awakened form. His body was suddenly covered in blue and violet fire, the hottest of flames. The flame and magma clashed. "Combustion Blast!" The blue flame suddenly overpowered the magma, sending a shockwave outward towards Akainu and his men. Ace's flames grew so hot that the ground beneath his feet began to melt.
The heat being put off even surprised Izo. How is he even alive? He thought as he stated in wonderful. "I'm not letting you touch me or my older brother." Izo's head snapped towards Ace. This was the first time Ace had referred to him as his brother; instead of friend. "Yes, I am Gol D. Roger's blood born son; but my father is Edward Newgate; Whitebeard! I use to think I was dirty for my blood, but my family has made me see that I am better than the man I share my blood with!" His face was alight with his flames that swirled in a dance around him. "You want to kill me because of a man that I never knew? Fine, but at least get my name right you pig! It's Portgas D. Fucking Ace!" He slammed his fist into the ground, sending flames downwards, a moment later a giant geyser exploded out of the ground between the Marines. The geyser flooded the area with blue flames. Men screamed as the twenty-eight thousand degree fire hit their bodies. Akainu was forced the either flee or fight and he wasn't going to tuck tail.
Snarling the magma user jumped and slammed his fist down upon Ace's head only for Ace to activate armament haki and surround his arms and torso with his flames. "If I surrender my power to you or the government, then there was no point in me being a man." Ace stated. "You can come at me as much as you like but it will be useless!" Becoming an inferno of flames Ace pushed Akainu away and actually burned the magma user.
Shit! Izo thought, his shock wearing off. When did Ace get this strong? He stared in wonder and amazement. It had been over a year or so since the young man had fought their Pops and been forced to join their group. Has nobody noticed him training all this time?
"I'm not ready to die!" Ace growled. "I have yet to see my little brother become the King of the Pirates and completely destroy your government! So come on, you fucking asshole! Fight me! Because I'm not going down without a fight!"
Izo saw from his place behind Ace, a few snipers taking aim at his younger brother. Pulling his revolver out, he fired a shot at one, hitting the young Marine between the eyes; killing him instantly. The second one shot at Ace but the bullets melted before they could reach him. Behind them Izo noticed that the building had caught fire. He looked at himself and noticed he wasn't affected by Ace's flames. Something to ask about later. He thought as he loaded his pistol again. Afterwords he pulled his denden out and quickly dialed for backup.
"What?" Came the tired voice.
"Jozu! Get help! The second division has been taken out! Ace and I are surrounded by Akainu's men!" He quickly yelled into the denden. "Tell Pop it was a trap!" The denden was suddenly shot out of his hand, the tiny snail creature killed. Izo turned and shot the second sniper, hitting the Marine in his shoulder disallowing him to be able to shoot for a moment.
Ace suddenly pushed his flames outwards from his body, the fire making a wall of flames around him and Izo. "Are you good?" Ace asked him feeling a bit drained. He'd been training this ability for months, going to the first islands to train it but it still put a strain on his body to be at this temperature.
"Yeah." Izo said noticing how nice the heat felt. It wasn't burning or harming him but rather was like a blanket covering him in its warmth. "When did you learn this?"
Ace chuckled. "Awhile back I learned that a certain fate was coming to me and if I wanted to avoid it I needed to gain more strength." He stated as he began to pant lightly. "So I trained in secret. I wanted to show Marco and Pops that I was getting stronger one day soon. Then I fully awakened my fruit and this new ability appeared. I can change the temperature of my flames now, which changes the color. This is my ultimate form."
"Pretty impressive." Izo grinned, feeling proud of his little brother.
"I also learned how to use my haki better, thanks to a certain red haired fiend." Ace chuckled as he mentioned Shanks causing Izo to raise a delicate brow at him.
"Oh? I bet that was fun." His grinned getting bigger.
"Not exactly." Ace groaned at the memories of Shanks' training instructions going from intense fighting one day to eating and drinking the next. "I'm going to create an escape for us, I need you to stay behind me so I don't burn you."
Izo looked at him, a frown appearing on his face. "Burn me?" He inquired.
Ace chuckled. "Haven't you wondered why you're not being affected by my powers?" He asked as looked over his shoulder at the cross-dresser. "You're in my blind spot. The area that's safe from my hottest flames." He smiled as he tipped his hat back. "Why do you think I've been shifting to keep you back there this whole time? It's not only the safest spot, it's my weak point and you're protecting it."
Now he understood why Ace kept subtly moving to keep him shielded. "I see." He turned his back to Ace's. "I'll keep you safe little brother."
Ace grinned under his hat. "Yes, I know you will." He returned his attention towards the marines in front of him. "Problem is, I only have a minute or two left in this form. I'm going to create an explosion of flame and fire. When I say so, we'll escape into a hole below us."
Izo nodded. "Understood." He then looked at the bullets in his hand. "I have five shots left."
"Right." Ace then held his hand outward, one in front of him and another to his right. Pulling all the energy he had left in him, he focused on the small haki energies that were in front of him. He may not be the best at observation haki, but he could at least do a better job at using it than most novices. His body began to glow brightly as the energy built up higher and higher, his flames grew hotter and higher. Soon the flames engulf the entirety of the town square they were in.
Ace panted. If he pulled this off and they escaped, he hoped this would change his fate. "Inferno Combustion!" A white flash of heat and fire shot out from his palms in the direction they were facing, destroying the land, town and anything else in its path. It rolled over the land like a tsunami over water. The marines who were in its way had no chance to escape as their bodies were cooked, their internal organs baking, and turning to dust.
Those left alive stared in awe at the destruction left behind. Akainu snarled as he slammed his fist into a tree that instantly turned to powder, the moisture in the air dry from the sudden destruction of fire. Tombstone was wiped from the island, as if it never existed. At the epicenter of the town where the two men had stood, a hole had appeared and swallowed the pirates up. At the bottom of the pit Ace laid unconscious on Izo's lap, the young commander having depleted his entire supply of energy in that last attack. Exhausted, he slumbered as his friend and elder brother watched over him.
Izo looked at Ace once more before looking in his hand at the remaining bullets. He knew Sakazuki Akainu would not stop looking until he found them. He would be their final line of defense until Pops arrived. It was going to be a long night.
M-Angel: And on that note I'll end the chapter here.